Destiny
by yasha012
Summary: He was doomed from the start. He was destined to die. Tortured and alone, just as he'd always been. His life was one of suffering, filled with darkness. Only one person could save him. But... what if she doesn't want to? FINISHED EDITING! (Relax, I didn't remove chapters, just edited them and put some together.)
1. Prologue: The Beginning

**Prologue: The Beginning**

Under the light of the full moon, a child was born. A small boy with silver hair. His hair was fairly short, but was long enough to touch his closed eyes. The boy did not cry. He didn't make any sound. He simply slept, as silent as the night itself. His mother held him, wrapped in white cloth, as she spoke. Though she appeared to hold him gently, he could feel the tightness in her grip.

"What will you name him?" She asked, her voice deceivingly sweet as she mentioned their child.

Silence answered her. With his eyes closed, he saw nothing. And yet, at the same time, he saw everything.

"Sesshomaru."

A new voice had spoken, breaking the silence. His father watched him, his eyes dull and tired. He'd just come back, and already he had to leave again. He said a short farewell to his wife and, with one final glance at their son, swiftly left, returning to the war many miles away. Once she was sure he was gone, the queen dropped her gentle facade. She looked down indifferently at the child in her arms and walked over to the very edge of the clan. Her gaze shifted, and she found herself looking down at the clouds far below.

_In his eyes, he saw everything._

Suddenly, her eyes flashed, filled to the brim with hate. Without a word, she lifted him up. She knew what she wanted. She knew she would face dire consequences for what she was about to do. But, even despite that, she didn't care. Her husband would likely kill her. She didn't care. He, along with the rest of the world, would thank her later. And, with those thoughts in her mind, she lifted him up, and threw him over the edge.

_And nothing at all._

**A/N READ! IMPORTANT! **_ First of all, if you're wondering, the clan is basically what I have decided to call that floating castle-home thing where Sesshomaru's mother was shown at in the anime and manga. Second, I have something __**IMPORTANT **__to say __**ABOUT SESSHOMARU.**__ He doesn't have the crescent moon on his forehead and he doesn't have the marks on his wrists, cheeks, or above his eyes. He doesn't carry Tenseiga, Tokijin, or Bakusaiga. I'll explain about that later. He doesn't carry around that fur and he doesn't have the yellow sash. All he has are the kimono, armor, and shoes he wears in the anime and manga. He also has both his arms. Rin, Jaken, and Ah-Un don't exist. Lastly, I need to explain something important about the story. It starts off going through his past, and showing all the things that happened to him back then. Those chapters are __**VERY**__ important to the storyline, and shouldn't be skipped. It will definitely get to what was talked about in the summary, but in order to get there, I need to go through his past first._


	2. Abandonment

He was falling. He could feel it. He did not open his eyes. He did not look. But he knew it was true. He was falling, and he had no way to stop it. He had not yet developed any abilities, and therefore could not fly. He was far too young, having been in the world for such a short time.

She was trying to kill him. That much was clear. His mother had discarded him, disowned him. He knew this. Even as an infant, he was intelligent. Far more intelligent than any sane person would be willing to believe. But, despite how impossible and unnatural it was, it was was true.

He was a freak. A monster. A disgrace. His mother thought these among other things about him. Had he actually had emotions at the time, he might have been hurt. Wounded to the depths of his soul. But he wasn't, for he had yet to develop emotions of any kind. Surely he would later, but not now. Not yet. In time. All in due time.

Suddenly, he stopped falling. He hit something and, whatever it was, let out a horrible squall. It was thrust downward by the force of him hitting it, but quickly stopped its fall. It flapped its leathery black wings and returned to its flight, seemingly unaware of its small passenger. Even if it was aware, it didn't appear to care. And if it did, it did nothing about it. It simply continued to fly, soaring ever northward. It flew for hours, and not once did Sesshomaru move. He remained still where he was, simply content to feel the wind moving around him. For a while, nothing changed. The creature simply continued to fly, going ever, ever northward. Several more hours passed, and suddenly, the temperature dropped dramatically. The creature shivered, but Sesshomaru did not react. Unlike that creature, unlike any normal being, he didn't feel cold. He wasn't affected by any temperature. Therefore, he couldn't feel cold. It wasn't possible. Not for him.

The creature continued to fly, and the temperature continued to fall. Half an hour passed, an hour. Nothing else happened. Not at first. But as more time passed, the creature's shivers grew more noticeable. There was nothing he could do about it, therefore he did not react. More time passed, and still the beast continued to shiver. It struggled to remain in flight, but as the temperature continued to drop, it began to freeze. It flapped its near frozen wings in a desperate attempt to remain in the air. But it was all in vain.

He was falling again. Falling and falling, farther and farther. Surely the ground would meet him soon. But it did not happen. Instead, he continued to fall, never once encountering anything. There were no more creatures to catch him. No more arms to hold him. And, for now, there was no ground to end his life.

He was still falling, farther and farther, and closer to death he came. It was certain. He would die on this day… But, then again, maybe not. Chance was a funny thing sometimes. Today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year. There was no telling when his time would come.

_He was destined to die. But not here. Not like this._

Almost as if some silent prayer had been answered, he stopped. He stopped falling. But he didn't hit the ground. Instead, the cloth he was wrapped in caught on something. A branch on one of the great trees in the frozen forest he was now in. The branch swayed and many flakes of snow fell free. After that, the forest was still once more. There was no more life, save for the great frozen trees and the dying creature which had carried him here. No, there _was_ other life. It simply remained hidden, undetected.

Chance. Chance had played a key role in his survival. It was through chance that his mother simply decided to discard him rather than kill him on the spot. It was through chance that he'd landed on that beast which had carried him. And it was through chance that he had been caught in the tree and hadn't landed on the ground, thus ending his short life. But now, chance was not so kind. Though he was safe, now he was hungry, and there wasn't anyone to feed him.

A cold, bitter wind blew and the branch swayed slightly. No more snow fell, free, though it threatened to as the branch continued to sway. The wind died down and once again, all was still. All was quiet. Sesshomaru was hungry. Somewhere inside something was screaming at him to eat. He had to eat. But in order to eat, he needed food. And in order to get food, he needed someone there to provide it. There was no one. He was all alone… This was the first of many suffering to come. So many more things would follow. His short-lived peace was over. He was starving. He'd merely been hungry before, but now he was starving. This was his first great suffering. The pain of hunger was the only pain he had experienced as of yet, and yet, somehow, he knew that there was greater pain in the world. He'd been without food for two days now, and the hunger pains were increasing. Another day passed and he was still without food.

One day, the hunger just stopped. He no longer needed to eat. He didn't understand it, but he didn't waste time questioning it. In a way, it was a good thing. Not needing to eat would come in handy.


	3. Capture

_**Time skip. Sesshomaru is about three or so in demon years.**_

**Chapter Four: Capture**

_One day, the hunger just stopped. He no longer needed to eat. He didn't understand it, but he didn't waste time questioning it. In a way, it was a good thing. Not needing to eat would come in handy._

"My lady, the lord returns."

"What?"

The queen was sitting on her lord's throne at the clan. She'd been fantasizing about what it would be like if Toga no longer existed. If he died like Sesshomaru. That was when one f her guards had appeared with that dreadful news. She had yet to come up with an explanation for Sesshomaru's absence, and she didn't want to deal with her husband until she had. If she didn't play this exactly right, she would be the one who died.

"Where is he?"

"He's currently passing through the Eastern Lands. He'll be here in a matter of days. A week, at most."

_Shit…_

"Taro, bring me 'him.'"

"But m'lady-"

"Do it!"

"Yes ma'am!"

After that, Taro ran off inside to fetch one of her most fearsome warriors. An assassin without a name, known simply as "him' by most.

_If this isn't done perfectly, it'll all be over. I have to be careful._

* * *

Sesshomaru quickly rounded the corner and kept running. He dodged another attack and jumped down the short ledge he suddenly found himself at.

"Get back here, runt!"

Without stopping to listen, he simply focused himself on landing on his feet. He managed to land on his feet for a moment, but before he even had a chance to blink he's slipped and fallen face-first into the snow. He gasped slightly and scrambled to his feet. He barely managed to get out of the way before his enemy stabbed his spear into the ground where he'd just been. Ignoring the instinct that said to run, he turned around and faced his enemy. His hair was hair was long and black, and was tied up at the end. (A/N like Neji Hyuuga's hair from Naruto.) His eyes were dark and menacing, and his mouth was twisted into an evil grin. (A/N basically, he looks like the First Hokage in Naruto, just without the headband.) Sesshomaru didn't know why he'd turned around. He couldn't fight that guy. He was too young to fight anything, really. He didn't have any training, and he didn't have much strength. The only thing that had kept him alive in this so-called "fight" was his amazing speed and his incredible intellect. While he was well aware and in control of his speed, he wasn't yet conscious of his mental ability. He unconsciously came up with a multitude of elaborate escape plans, things to throw his enemy off his trail. But his conscious mind didn't quite yet register these things, so all he could do was follow his instincts. And he did. Finally obeying the instinct telling him to run, he turned and dashed off into the trees before his enemy even had a chance to free his spear from the earth.

"Damn it!"

The kid was fast. He had to give him credit for that. But it didn't matter. He had a job to do, and he'd do it without fail.

_If he's alive, I want you to find him and bring him back. And if he's dead… I want the body._


	4. In The Dungeon

_It was all over. He'd been caught. He'd been captured and there was nothing he could do about it._

* * *

Within the darkness, he could see nothing. Everything faded away the moment the door closed. But he knew one thing with certainty. He was all alone. Locked away in the darkness, forgotten about. That is, until his mother grew angry again. Whenever she was even remotely upset about anything, her servant came down into the dungeon and beat him. The same exact servant who'd captured him and dragged him back here. He never left this place. He wanted to, but he knew he couldn't get out. He wasn't strong enough… The only time he'd ever been let out of that place was when his father came back. That rarely happened. Whenever he asked about his son's wounds, his mother claimed that he'd recklessly challenged older, stronger boys to fights and lost. That was her favorite story. She made up other things as well. He didn't know exactly what she said though. All he knew was that his father never showed any compassion toward him. His father didn't show animosity toward him as his mother did, but the look in his eyes said everything. His eyes showed complete indifference.

_He didn't care._

That hurt. His father didn't hate him, but in truth, he didn't need to. All he needed to do was not love him. That was all it took to hurt him. What was worse, one day, his father stopped coming. He later found out why. He was sitting in the darkness of the dungeon late one night listening to the two male voices outside the door somewhere. He didn't know who they were, nor did he care. It was their conversation that he was interested in. Not because he was gaining any useful information from it, but simply because listening to them was better than sitting around doing nothing. Finally, he grew bored of listening to them and began to tune them out. But before he could, he heard one of them mention his father. Once again, he began to listen to them.

"Is Lord Toga still fighting?" Asked one voice.

"Yes. The Panther Devas are formidable opponents. He is the only one who has any chance of beating them." Replied the other.

"I agree. Though I'm sure if his son was older…"

The second voice quickly silenced the first.

"Shut up!" The voice hissed angrily. "You know we're not supposed to talk about him!"

"Right. Sorry."

"Just don't do it when the Queen is around, or she'll beat him more. He doesn't need any more punishment."

"Right."

Sesshomaru had stopped listening by this point. As soon as the second voice had silenced the first he'd tuned them both out. He really didn't want to hear them argue… After tuning them out, he slowly laid down and tried to get some sleep. He knew what was coming tomorrow. And if not tomorrow, then soon. His mother was upset that his father was never around, never spending time with her. And he got beat for it. All the time. He lifted his head up and looked in the direction of the door. He'd decided a long time ago. He was running away. The next time they let him out…

_He'd be gone._


	5. Punishment

Sesshomaru is about seven or so now.

* * *

_That day never came._

His mother watched him like a hawk the few times he was let out, and he was never able to escape. If he tried to while she was watching...

_He didn't even want to think about it._

Too horrible. Just too, too horrible. His father had just left again about a week ago, and his mother was _not_ happy. She and his father had _another_ huge fight. They'd been fighting the whole week he was there. It was the biggest fight he'd ever seen them have, and he knew _exactly_ what that meant.

_He would get punished._

And he did. She'd been having her servant beat him all week long. He wasn't sure he could last much longer... He didn't know why, but for whatever reason, he'd been left alone all day today. That was_ bad_ news. He was sure of it. Sure enough, about an hour or so later, her servant came in with murderous intent in his eyes.

_The next few hours were hell._

It was the worst beating he'd even recieved. It ended with her servant slamming his head into the the ground. He did it so many times he lost count. Before it was even over, he blacked out. When the job was done, the servant went back outside and walked over to the lord's throne where the queen was sitting. He was covered in the child's blood, and he considered it a prize. He walked over to the queen and bowed in front of her.

"He has recieved his punishment, m'lady."

"Good."

"Is there anything else I may do for you?"

"Get rid of him."

He looked up in surprise.

"What?"

"You heard me."

He bowed again.

"Yes m'lady. It will be done."

After that, he went back to the dungeon to complete his newest task. He opened the door and picked the boy up by the back of his collar. The boy didn't even move. He was still unconscious. Hell, he may have even been dead for all he knew.

_Not that he cared._

He walked back outside again and flew off in the direction of the great snowy forest where he'd captured the child before. That forest was one of the most dangerous places in all of Japan. He was sure the boy would die there. And even if he didn't, the chances of him ever finding his way out of there were slim. Once he was over the forest, he let go of the child and watched him fall.


	6. Little Girls

**Sesshomaru is about twelve or so in human years. And yes, he's alive. :) Also, the italicized scene in the beginning I took from one of my other fics that's been borrowing scenes from THIS fic. They are sharing. XD **

_"You insolent whelp!" His mother yelled furiously._

_She slapped him across the face and he was spun around by the sheer force of the blow._

_"How dare you say anything to him!"_

_"I didn't! It wasn't me!" He cried, he hand on his already bruising cheek._

_"Like hell it wasn't you!" She hissed._

_She slapped him again, causing him to cry harder._

_"Shut the hell up!" She yelled, raising her hand again threateningly._

_He struggled to fight back the tears, but he just couldn't._

_"What did you tell him?" She asked angrily. "Well?!"_

_"I didn't tell him anything!" He said again, still struggling not to cry._

_"Stop lying to me!" She growled._

_"I'm not lying!" He protested._

_"You fucking brat!" She yelled._

_She garbed his wrist tightly in her hand, squeezing so hard that he cried out in pain as a bone snapped. She dragged him down to the dungeon and literally threw him in._

_"You'll receive your punishment later. In the meantime, you can rot!"_

_With that, she left, leaving a scared little kid sitting alone in the darkness. _

Sesshomaru jolted awake, having been startled by some kind of a noise. He listened intently, trying to determine what it was. Whatever it was, it _definitely_ wasn't friendly. He quickly jumped down from the high tree branch where he'd been sleeping and began to move away from it, heading in the opposite direction. He moved swiftly and soundlessly, maneuvering easily through the snowy forest he'd always considered home. When he was younger, before his mother had recaptured him, he'd had a hard time in the snow. It had made it hard for him to run, it hid the ice, causing him to fall often, made it difficult for him to remain undetected by the many monstrous creatures he knew lived here. But now, treading through snow and ice came as naturally to him as breathing. He'd even become accustomed to the freezing temperatures here that no ordinary being could survive. When he was littler, he hadn't felt temperatures at all. Not ever. But now, he did occasionally.

He had just reached a giant frozen lake when he heard a terrified shriek. He whipped around to the left and soon saw a young girl dart out of the trees. She was young. Younger than he was. She was also human. Her movements were too sluggish, her skin too pale. She was clearly suffering immensely from the cold. Her long black hair, and strange clothes seemed to be freezing over. Before he even had a chance to debate whether or not he should help her, the creature he'd heard before came crashing out of the trees.

It was a rare white tiger demon. They weren't found anywhere else in the world. He knew this from a scroll he'd discovered once a few years ago, a while after he'd been discarded for a second time by his mother. It had taken quite a while to find his way back to the forest from where he'd woken up, and he hadn't wasted his time. He'd done more than just simply head north. Shaking those memories from his mind for now, he rushed to the aid of the girl. He darted in between the two just as the demon was about to literally bite her head off. He gave its snout a solid kick, and its mouth snapped shut with an audible _click_ of its teeth. Before it had a chance to retaliate, he punched it hard on the side of its head. Seeming to decide that its current choice of prey was too well protected, the tiger demon turned tail and fled back into the trees.

He turned the girl who now sat on the ground shivering uncontrollably. She was hugging herself in a feeble attempt to warm up. Without stopping to think of the possible consequences, he went over to her, picked her up bridal style, and rushed over to a nearby cave. It was one of his many secret refuges where he went to escape severe weather and dangerous creatures. He carefully laid her down inside before quickly heading back out. He jumped up into a tree tore off large amounts of tree bark so he could start a fire for her. The branched were soaked due to the snow, but much of the bark on this part of the tree had somehow managed to remain dry. When he was finished, he jumped back down and returned to the cave. Not long afterward, he had a nice big fire going. This seemed to wake her. She sat up and looked at the fire uncomprehendingly for a moment before slowly seeming to realized exactly what she was looking at. She immediately sat up straighter and moved closer to the fire. A little _too_ close, in his opinion. She held her hands out to it and whimpered softly at the warmth. After what he was sure was close to an hour. She turned her head to him, wide-eyed and clearly frightened. He was sitting several feet to her right, a bit deeper into the cave than she was. She seemed to work up a great deal of courage before speaking.

"Who are you?" She asked quietly.

He blinked, not sure whether or not he really wanted to answer that question. After a moment, he supposed simply providing a name couldn't hurt anything. Or more specifically, _him_.

"Sesshomaru." He said, voice just as quiet, if not more so.

"Sesshomaru?" She repeated in uncertainty.

He nodded. She turned her head back to the fire, smiling just a bit.

"What an odd name." She murmured.

He tilted his head slightly, but said nothing. After a few moments, she turned back to him.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"North." He replied simply.

"North? Where north?" She asked.

"Here." He said. "In the forest. There's nothing else up here."

"Oh." She said.

It fell silent after that. Not long afterward, he decided to voice a few of his own questions.

"Who are _you_?" He asked.

Without looking to him, she replied.

"My name's Kagome." She said. "Kagome Higurashi."

He blinked.

"Why do you have two names?" He asked in confusion.

She looked at him. She seemed surprised at his question.

"Everyone does." She said.

_'Oh.__'_

It wasn't really surprising that he hadn't known that. He grown up first in isolation in a forest, then locked away in a dungeon, then back in the forest. No wonder he hadn't known.

"Where are you from?" He asked after a moment, intent on getting her back home before she either froze to death or got killed. "Is your village nearby?"

She seemed confused again.

"Village? What village?" She asked. "I don't live in a village."

"Where _do_ you live, then?" He asked, slightly confused.

Here he'd thought that _all_ humans lived in villages... Apparently though, he'd been wrong.

"On a shrine." She said. "You know, in the city."

He blinked.

"_City_?" He asked, repeating the strange and unfamiliar word slowly. "What's that?"

She seemed even more confused now than when he'd asked about the village that she apparently didn't live in.

"You don't know?" She asked.

He shook his head.

"Well... It's kind of like a village, I guess. Only bigger." She said, clearly trying to explain it. "_Much_ bigger."

There was silence again for a long time. After a while, she spoke again.

"I'm nowhere near a city, am I?" She asked almost sadly.

He shook his head.

"I don't think so." He replied.

"Okay." She said. "Is it okay if I sleep here with you tonight?"

Once again without thinking, he took the safety of this young girl into his own hands.

"Yes." He said simply.

"Thank you." She said, smiling softly at him.

She laid down, laying her head on her hands and soon fell asleep. After a long while, the fire began to die down. He stood up and quietly went out to fetch more tree bark to feed the dying flames. When he came back, she was gone. Just... gone. Even her scent had vanished, as though she'd never existed to begin with. Shocked and confused, he left the cave in search of a new place to stay. For some reason, he no longer wanted to be in that cave.


	7. Dreams

_I used to have dreams. _

_They weren't extraordinary. _

_I once dreamt that I fell through some sort of portal. _

_I'd been walking to school. I ended up making a wrong turn somewhere, and I got lost. After wandering around for some time, I heard a little dog barking. I searched around for it and soon found it near a dumpster. It barked at me and ran around a building. I don't know why, but I followed it. It ran far into an area of the city that I'd never been to before. I was more lost than I'd been before. I could still hear it barking. It sounded like it was coming from inside an old run-down building. I walked inside after it and began to look for it again. I didn't know why I continued to search for it. But for some reason, I felt like I had to. As if I thought that this little white puppy with it's cute pointy ears could lead me home. _

_The building I was in turned out to be an old abandoned warehouse or factory of sorts. I climbed up a flight of tall metal stairs and called out for the puppy. It barked in response to my call, so I continued onward. I reached the top of the stairs and began to walk forward. I barely had a chance to take two steps before the old flooring beneath me gave way. I screamed in terror and squeezed my eyes shut tightly as I began to fall. I expected to hit the ground at any moment. Instead, i felt like I'd fallen through something. I opened my eyes and looked up to see some kind of hole above me. It was getting smaller and smaller with each passing moment as I continued to fall through this starge hole. Just before I lost sight of the opening, the puppy appeared there. It looked down at me, barked once, then turned and walked away. _

_Still trembling with fear, I finally looked down. I couldn't see the ground. I couldn't see much of anything, really. I was surrounded by a wonderful blue light, but that was all I could see. There seemed to be nothing else. Suddenly, The blue light began to turn white. It grew cold. Several times, I thought I could see snow. Before I knew it, I felt ground beneath me. I looked around in confusion. I had no idea where I was. After a few moments, everything came into focus. I was in a forest. It wasn't a normal forest. The trees were far too tall. Taller than redwood trees. The trunks were too wide. Their branches to huge, too long. It was far colder here than any place I'd ever been to before, and my father had taken me to several differnet countries when I was younger. It wasn't snowing, but there was a great amount of snow on the ground._

_Just as I stood up, I heard a terrifying noise. It was a monstrous roar of some kind, and it struck fear into my heart. Without stopping to think, I stood up and ran, not having any idea where I was going or what I was even running from. I don't know how far I ran before I finally stopped. Ifelt certain that I was safe now. That whatever had made that noise hadn't noticed me, or that I'd been too fast for it to catch. How terribly naiive I was. I heard it again. That same terrifying roar. I shrieked when I saw it. Whatever it was. I ran again, hoping that I could outrun whatever was chasing me. But my limbs felt stiff and weak. It was cold. It was so cold... I tripped slightly and quickly regain my footing. Forcing myself to go faster, I burst through the trees and into some kind of clearing. There was a great frozen lake there. Had I not been so close to getting killed, I may have stopped to enjoy the way the ice seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. It was rather beautiful, really. I hardly noticed it at the time. _

_I fell to my knees in the snow, shivering uncontrollably, panting for air. This was it. I couldn't go any farther. I was certain that I would be killed soon. I heard the monster running toward me. I gave up. What else could I do but accept the inevetable? I was vaguely aware of something going on behind me, but I hardly paid any attention to it. Nor did I pay attention when it felt like someone had picked me up. Surely I was dead now, and this was some angel carrying me off to heaven. It seemed like an eternity before I slowly became aware of something. I felt something. Something familiar. Warmth. I opened my eyes and stared at what I knew to be a fire. I don't know why I hesiteted, but after a moment, I sat up straighter and moved closer to the fire. I held my hands out to it and whimpered softly at the warmth it provided. It felt so good... After a long while, I turned my head to the right and looked deeper into a cave where a young boy with long silver hair and strang, animal-like eyes was sitting. I'd known for a while that he was there. I could feel him watching me. It took me several moments to work up enough courage to speak with him. _

_"Who are you?" I asked quietly._

_He blinked, but said nothing at first. After a long moment, he spoke. _

_"Sesshomaru." He said, voice just as quiet as mine, if not more so._

_"Sesshomaru?" I repeated in uncertainty._

_He nodded. I turned my head back to the fire, smiling just a bit. I don't know why I was smiling. I was anything but happy. Safe, but not happy._

_"What an odd name." She murmured._

_He tilted his head slightly, but said nothing. After a few moments, I turned back to him._

_"Where am I?" I asked._

_"North." He replied simply._

_"North? Where north?" I asked, hoping for a more specific explanation of where she was._

_"Here." He said. "In the forest. There's nothing else up here."_

_"Oh." I said._

_It fell silent after that. I was upset. Nothing else was up here? Before I had a chance to say anything else, he spoke again._

_"Who are you?" He asked._

_Without looking to him, I replied._

_"My name's Kagome." I said. "Kagome Higurashi."_

_He blinked again, and I couldn't help but wonder if that was supposed to mean something._

_"Why do you have two names?" He asked._

_I looked at him, surprised at his question. He seemed genuinely confused._

_"Everyone does." I said._

_He said nothing in response._

_"Where are you from?" He asked after a moment. "Is your village nearby?"_

_I grew confused again._

_"Village? What village?" I asked. "I don't live in a village."_

_"Where do you live, then?" He asked, seeming slightly confused._

_"On a shrine." She said. "You know, in the city."_

_He blinked yet again in response._

_"City?" He asked, repeating the word slowly. "What's that?"_

_I was even more confused at that moment than when he'd asked about the village._

_"You don't know?" I asked._

_He shook his head._

_"Well... It's kind of like a village, I guess. Only bigger." I said, trying to explain it. "Much bigger."_

_There was silence again for a long time. After a while, I spoke again._

_"I'm nowhere near a city, am I?" I asked sadly._

_He shook his head._

_"I don't think so." He replied._

_"Okay." I said. "Is it okay if I sleep here with you tonight?"_

_I was exhausted, and at the moment, wanted nothing more than to go to sleep._

_"Yes." He said simply._

_"Thank you." I said, smiling softly at him._

_I once again have no idea why I smiled at him, this stranger who may have saved my life. I laid down, laying my head on my hands and soon fell asleep. __The next thing I knew, I was waking up in my bed. At home. Not in a cave. Safe. Warm._

_I never had that dream again. _

_But sometimes, I have other dreams._

_And he's always in them._

_That strange boy..._

_Sesshomaru. _

**A/N In case you couldn't tell, the person narrating in this chapter is Kagome.**


	8. The Death of a Father

**Sesshomaru is fourteen now. Also, I'm going to be altering a few things about what happened when Toga died.**

It was hard, back-breaking work. He hated it. He hated working like this. He hated being told what to do at all hours of the day. He hated being whipped. But most of all, he hated living in chains.

When he'd turned thirteen (in human years) two unfamiliar men appeared in the forest. They were strong enough to overpower him, and that's exactly what they'd done. They'd kidnapped him and held him for ransom, hoping that his mother and father would give them everything to save their son. Of course, no one ever came. He knew they wouldn't.

They spent days beating him for it, punishing him for something he couldn't control. It wasn't his fault his parents hated him. It was his burden. Nothing more.

They kept him locked away in some dark place. He didn't know where. He had no idea how long he'd been left there, chained and bloodied, awaiting his fate. Whatever it was, he'd just hoped that they would get on with it already.

Eventually, he learned that they were selling him, as if he were property, to a brutal demon known throughout the world for his cruelty. That wasn't the worst of it, though.

Sesshomaru was to be one of his slaves.

He'd tried many times to escape, only to be beaten and whipped and forced to work harder and longer. He'd never hated anyone as much as he hated that man. He loved his mother more than he did that man. And he hated her, too.

It wasn't until just days before he turned fifteen that he managed to escape. He hadn't simply left, however. The second he'd broken free from those magic chains that had sealed his power, he attacked the people who's been hurting him for so long. He killed them all. Including that man. He destroyed the slave camp, set the others free, then headed to the beach.

The camp had been located on an island, far from where he'd once lived (A/N near present day Europe). He got on one of the many small boats that were there, and began the long journey home.

He was already fifteen and a half by the time he finally made it back to Japan. He'd grown accustomed to the seas, though he still didn't particularly like it. He hated water, actually, after nearly being drowned as a small child.

By the time he turned sixteen in human years, he was back up north, where he belonged. In the only place he'd ever considered home. He'd done much training since he'd escaped the slave camp, and was now nearly a master in sword fighting. He was also skilled in hand-to-hand combat, had learned to control many of his powers, and had spent nearly all of his free time strengthening his mind. He knew more than even his own father, who was well-known throughout the land not only for his strength, but also for his intelligence.

Sesshomaru continued to train hard. Once he'd mastered the sword, he moved on to other weapons. Daggers. Knives. Battle axes. Bow and arrows. He could use nearly every weapon he came across. His favorite, however, was his sword. One he'd crafted himself. (A/N Just so everyone knows, it's Bakusaiga.) He'd also hand crafted his other weapons. The two daggers hidden in his sleeve. The bow and sheath of arrows he kept hidden a secret place only he knew about just in case.

His mind was not idle during this time. After a few years (A/N he's still sixteen in human years, by the way), he'd started traveling. He came across many books and scrolls on his travels, and even met a few scholars here and there. Though he wasn't one to trust easily, he found that he was able to get along with those people quite nicely most of the time.

He never stayed in one place for very long. A few weeks, at the most. He avoided all villages and settlements of any kind, human and demon alike. The few people he came across, the scholars included, lived in solitude in remote areas such as high mountaintops and dense forests far from civilization. Honestly, he was thankful that there were so few of these people, since he seemed to wander into the most remote of areas quite often.

One day, more than six months after turning seventeen, he came across something.

He'd been wandering, as per usual, when he suddenly found himself high atop a high that overlooked a large human fortress of sorts. It was clear by all the armed guards and whatnot that they were determined to keep something, or perhaps _someone_, safe. He started to turn away, not at all interested in the place, when he heard it. A very familiar voice he hadn't heard since he was a young child. A voice he would have very much liked to forget.

"IZAYOI!"

He whirled around just in time to see his father, sword drawn, launch himself through the crowd of human soldiers and force an entry into the fortress. He didn't know how, but his father was already severely injured. His injuries should have been fatal. How was it that he was still alive? He hardly had time to consider any possible answers to this question before he became aware of a new sound. It sounded like... a baby. A newborn baby, crying nonstop. He could smell his mothers blood, the foul scent of her death. He hesitated. His father was already inside the fortress. Surely he could hear the baby. Surely he would save the poor, helpless thing.

He was snapped from his thoughts when he saw the fire that was quickly spreading throughout the building inside the fortress. He looked over at his father, who was still locked in battle with some unfamiliar man. One of his swords was missing. Knowing that if he waited any longer it would be too late, he ran for the building.

Somehow, he managed to get inside without anyone noticing. He covered his nose with his sleeve, the smell of smoke burning his throat. He listened carefully. Over the roar of the flames, he could still hear the baby crying. He ran in the direction of the sound, and soon discovered the dead body of his mother. Some human princess, it seemed. And she'd been stabbed. She'd clearly bled to death. He very carefully pulled the spear out of her body and cast it away. Surely her spirit did not deserve to be stuck with it in the afterlife, if there was one.

He carefully moved the blankets and soon discovered the baby. It was a boy. A little half demon boy. One with silver hair and pointy puppy ears. Immediately he understood why his father was here. Trying to save this baby his mother. Honestly, he couldn't blame his father for leaving his own monster of a mother. He picked up the tiny, wailing infant and wrapped him in a white-ish cloth that was laying on the floor. One that had not been stained by his mother's blood.

He was about to leave, to get the baby out of the smoke, when he felt it. The slight breeze blowing through the room. He turned and peered carefully through the smoke. It took him a moment to recognize what he was looking at. His father's sword. Tenseiga. He'd only seen it once before, but he knew what it was capable of doing. His father had told him of it's powers once.

_'This sword can bring back the dead, Sesshomaru. But only if it's wielded by someone with a compassionate heart."_

He knew what he needed to do. Not wasting any time, he walked over to the sword, hardly even glancing at the hole it had created in the wall when it crashed through. He quickly unsheathed it and moved over to the dead mother, hoping, _praying_ for the child's sake that he could make the sword work. That's when he saw them. The messengers of the underworld. The sword guided his stroke. She woke up, coughing and gasping, her wound completely healed. She looked around frantically before her eyes suddenly settled on him. He could instantly sense her confusion as her dropped the sword and handed her her son.

"You're not Toga." She murmured.

He shook his head in agreement. No, he was _not _his father. And he was determined to make sure it stayed that way. While he didn't exactly hate his father, he still didn't like him. How could he, after his father had simply stood by and watched as his son suffered at the hands of his own mother?

"Then who are you?" The woman asked. "If not Toga, then who?"

"It doesn't matter." He replied, helping her to her feet.

"You look like him." She said. "Are you his other son?"

Without answering her question, he disappeared. His father was coming. And he didn't want to be there when he arrived. He stayed nearby, however. Just in case. He was relieved when the woman made no mention of him. He'd just begun to walk away when the woman fled the building. Just minutes later, everything came crashing down, killing the mysterious man and his father almost instantly. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he even cared.

He certainly didn't feel sad.


	9. All's Fair in Love and War

**Sesshomaru is nineteen. It's just a few human years before Kagome goes through the well for the first time. Also, he's stopped aging. I might explain more about this later. **

_"Why do you live here alone? Don't you have a family?" Kagome asked as she sat with him on a beautiful grassy hill in the middle of a lush, green field._

_"No." He replied._

_"Everyone has a family, Sesshomaru." She said._

_"Wrong." He said simply._

_"What makes you say that?" She asked, looking at him._

_"Some people are too horrible to consider family." He said bitterly._

_"Even your own mother?" She asked._

_"She will _never_ be my mother." He said, growling softly._

_"Don't you have any friends, then?" She asked._

_His eyes narrowed just a bit._

_"Such things do not exist." He said._

_She looked at him sadly._

_"One day you'll see." She said as she faded into nothing. _

Sesshomaru blinked drowsily as he drifted into the waking world. He squinted slightly at the bright sunlight that filtered through the trees and sat up from where he'd been sleeping on the soft, lush forest floor. He rubbed his eyes a bit and stretched before standing up. He didn't spend much time wondering about the strange dream he'd had. It wasn't often that he dreamt (unless he was having nightmares), but he'd had dreams involving her often enough that they no longer bothered him. It was strange, though. Why would he dream about someone he'd only met once? Someone he barely even knew? Someone who may not have ever existed to begin with? Shaking his head lightly, he focused on continuing his journey from the day before. He'd been headed to the east, in search of an ancient book that was supposed to be hidden somewhere there. The book contained many secrets, and it had certainly piqued his curiosity. He loved to learn, and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to learn many new things. And besides, it wasn't like he had anything better to do. Once he was fully awake, he set off.

He traveled for days without rest, completely undeterred by the carnage around him. There was a war going on right now. The Northern Wolf Tribe (A/N Koga' tribe) was fighting against his mother and her army, from what he'd heard. Though honestly, he couldn't care less who won and who lost. He had no bond with anyone, certainly not anyone from his own race. He hated his mother, his father was dead, and he could care less about any of the other dog demons. After all, he'd never met any of them. For all he knew, they were just as bad as his mother. Not that he cared to find out.

He hated war. He hated it with a passion. He just hoped that this war didn't escalate into the Second Great Demon War. The first one had been the war between his father and the Panther Devas. He'd heard all the horror stories about it from various people. Some had fought on one side or the other, most of them hadn't. Very few had survived that war.

Finally, he managed to get into an area of the northeast that the war hadn't destroyed. This was where he'd been headed. An ancient archive, hidden where only the most powerful demons could reach it. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to get to it, but he was determined to try. He was surprised at how little effort it took him to get through the barrier. It also surprised him to see that very few books and scrolls were still there. Obviously someone who had come there before him had looted the place.

"Tch."

Disappointed, he considered just heading back to his forest home in the far north. He shook his head. He hadn't come all this way just to give up. At the very least, he'd explore the place. Maybe that would make the trip worthwhile. He spent several hours just wandering around, and was even more disappointed to find that the book he'd sought was no longer there. With a sigh, he turned and headed back out. Almost as soon as he exited the archive he was attacked. It was a young wolf demon. He appeared to be about fourteen or so, with long black hair kept in a pony-tail and some sort of brown fur clothing. Definitely from the Wolf Tribe.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" The wolf shouted as he attempted to kick him.

He easily dodged the attack. The wolf obviously hadn't had much training.

"I'm not with the army." He said simply.

"Liar! Why would you be?!" The wolf demanded.

"I don't get involved in the clan's affairs." He replied.

"Humph! Why should I believe _you_?!" The wold ask haughtily.

"If I were your enemy, I would have killed you."

Without another word, he turned and began the long journey back to the northern wilderness. He was rather eager to get back home.

**A/N Little does he know just how this event is going to affect his life... Haha, SPOILER! XD**


End file.
